Euro cops cuff 112 in paedophile network raids

Terabytes of child abuse video seized from one suspect alone

Police across Europe have arrested 112 suspected members of a child abuse ring.

The suspects allegedly used the net to share depraved images and homemade videos depicting children and even toddlers being sexually abused and raped. A crackdown operation, co-ordinated by European police agency Europol, launched raids in 22 countries. Nineteen people were arrested in Denmark alone.

A massive 29 terabytes of data, featuring 9,000 hours of high-definition video, was seized from one Danish suspect alone.

The raids were carried out as part of Operation Icarus, an ongoing police investigation that is likely to result in further arrests. In a statement, Europol said investigators had identified a total of 269 suspects.

Operation Icarus is the first operation to conclude under the auspices of the new action plan of the COSPOL Internet Related Child Abuse Material Project (CIRCAMP), an initiative by EU police chiefs led by Belgium and backed by the European Commission. ®